The Top 10 of 2010

While many bloggers are doing recaps of their favorite blog posts from their own blog last year, I’ve decided to add a little twist. I’ve compiled ten of my favorite blog posts from other blogs this past year.

I read a lot of blogs. A lotta lot. And this is by no means an extensive list of all the good content I read last year. These just happen to be a few that have stuck with me. They’re all worth reading. Enjoy :)

In no particular order…

Amy’s Top Ten Favorite Blog Posts of 2010

1. My Ideal by Sarah @ Life in the Parsonage – One of the reasons I love Sarah. She has split personalities, just like me ;)
   
   
2. What If There Is A Higher Purpose to this Thing Called “Marriage”? by Wendi @ Everyday Miracles – If you are, were, or will ever be married, READ THIS. So good. I could probably stand to read it daily.
   ”When I take my eyes off from myself, and minister to the needs of the one whom I have promised my life to, my real needs are met so much more efficiently and completely than when I run past compassion and encouragement and grasp at my "rights", what I "deserve", and want.”
   
   
3. The Blessings of Using Hospitality: Part 1 and Part 2 by Rhonda at Raising Homemakers
   
   
4. In Defense of Early Bedtimes by Sarah @ This Heavenly Life – to which I give her a hearty AMEN!
   
   
5. Spend Time With Jesus, Then Get Stuff Done by Mark Driscoll @ Mars Hill Blog
   
   
6. You Could Have God! And You Chose Light Beer. by Mark Driscoll @ Mars Hill Blog
   
   
7. Missional Mothering – by Jani Ortlund on The Resurgence – love, love LOVE this one.
   Don’t feel guilty over making your children your primary ministry investment in their early years. Your availability, sensitivity, affection, and unhurried attention are irreplaceable.There are no neutral moments in a young child’s life. Someone is going to be influencing your children, inculcating values and imprinting standards on their impressionable young minds. Let it be you!
   
   
8.  Avoiding Selfishness – by Val @ Chronicles of a Babywise Mom
   
   
9. Why Require Unregenerate Children to Act Like They’re Good? by John Piper @ Desiring God (not actually written in 2010 but I read it in 2010 so I’m including it anyway :)
   
   
10. Sing a More Beautiful Song by Sally Clarkson on I Take Joy
    

And just for fun, I’m also including a list of the top 11 blogs you should read in 2011. Really, I think any of the blogs on my blogroll are worth a look – but this is a mix of a few of my favorites. Some cooking, some crafty, some just all around a good time.

Again, in no particular order…

Amy’s Top 11 Blogs to Check out in 20110

1. Peter Marie – Abby is the creative, crafty person I wish I was. And the kind of fun mom I’m sure my daughters wish I was :) She’s always doing cool projects with her kids, making awesome decorations from her home out of virtually nothing, and creating amazing art. Best of all, she’s real and honest and totally unpretentious and I just love reading what she writes. And I totally think she should open up an Etsy shop (hint, hint Abby ;)
   
   
2. Bakerella – I’m certainly not the first to discover her, but if you’ve never checked her out, go forth and be amazed.  I am going to attempt to make these treats for Valentine’s day, and they are not going to look that pretty and I am going to cry about what a failed baker I am. But I digress.
   
3. i am mommy – not only is Amanda author of the best sugar cookie recipe ever, she’s also amazingly sweet, funny, and real. My top three favorite qualities in a blogger. And she’s also a great baker. I live vicariously through her.
   
   
4. Newlywoodwards – Kim and her husband Ryan have a love for renovating old crappy houses and turning them into something uniquely beautiful. I used to want to fix up old houses too, until I started reading her blog and saw how much work it is. Now I just sit on my tush at my computer and read about them doing it. It works :) Plus Kim always has stellar DIY projects and yummy recipes to try.
   
   
5. Young House Love – more DIY home renovate-rs. Home of the world’s greatest furniture painting tutorial. And lots of other good stuff.
   
   
6. One Pretty Thing – this site does a round up of the best DIY project on the Internet every day. If you visit, I promise you’ll find more than one project to add to your list. So many good ideas, so little time!
   
   
7. Dollar Store Crafts – Dollar Store DIY Projects. Awesomeness.
   
   
8. Stringer’s Mama’s News – Ann is an old college friend of mine and is always amazing me with her creativity and thriftiness. Check out this dollhouse she made for her daughter out of a bookcase and literally scraps of stuff she had around her house. A.MAZ.ING.
   
   
9. Money Saving Mom – I know, I know. Who HASN’T heard of her? But she remains one of my favorite blogs so I’m including her here.
   
   
10. Mars Hill Blog – the blog that belongs to Mars Hill Church in Seattle, pastored by the oft controversial Mark Driscoll. Think what you like about him, but there is some excellent content on his blog.
    
    
11. Everyday Miracles – if I had to choose just one word to describe Wendi, it would be gentle. She writes about the ordinary in an incredibly insightful way. I always leave feeling refreshed and encouraged, and I’ll bet you will too.
    
    
    So, now you’ve got plenty of reading/browsing material for the New Year.

I’m off to start deep cleaning my house.

Or maybe I’ll just read about it on the Internet. Yeah. That sounds like more fun ;)

Monday, Monday…

It’s Monday. It’s snowing {again}.

*SIGH*

I really do hate winter. To quote my hubby, “It’s an endurance race.” I just need to keep reminding myself,

“It could be worse. It could be worse.”

Anywho. Thanks to all of you who emailed me with concern due to my lack of posts last week. Apparently when I don’t blog very often it makes you think something is wrong. So just to set your minds at ease:

Everything’s fine!

But thanks so much for your sweet concern!

Lily is moving from two naps down to just one which has been a bit of an adjustment. And since I try to only spend time on the computer when she’s asleep, well…the blogging had to be set aside so I could do more important things. Mommy and wife things.

It always takes me a little while to adapt to change. But I think we’re getting into the groove now.

I really don’t have much else to say. Not that I’ve said a whole lot up to this point but I just wanted to reassure you that I’m alive and well :)

Oh, and though I really didn’t care one way or the other about who won the Super Bowl, I just have to say that this was just about the cutest thing EVER:

So sweet.

Alrighty. I’m off to climb Mount Laundry.

Happy Monday!

The Silver Lining

Wow. I haven't blogged -- I mean really blogged -- in what feels like FOR.EV.ER. You'll have to forgive me if I'm a little bit rusty :)

In case you're wondering {though I doubt you are}, we did end up having to get a new computer. We got a call from the Geek Squad on Saturday letting us know that our poor stupid annoying ridiculously unreliable little laptop had finally given up the ghost for good. Evidently there are limits as to how many times you can perform surgery on a motherboard and be successful.

That was the bad news.

The good news was that WE GOT A NEW COMPUTER!! And it was {almost} free! We got store credit to purchase a new laptop -- and we actually got a little bit of an upgrade! And since I know you're wondering -- no, we did not get a Mac.

I know, I know! Lecture if you will, but we simply don't have 500 extra smackeroos laying around the house to put towards a computer that we shouldn't have had to buy anyway. However, we DID totally give HP the cold shoulder {my mama didn't raise no dummy} and went with a Sony instead.

If it breaks down in a year and a half, feel free to say I told you so.

Anyway, I do have to say that being forced to take an "Internet fast" for a couple of weeks wasn't all bad. In fact, in a lot of ways it was really really good for me.

I had a lot of time to reflect on ways that technology -- particularly the Internet and even more specifically blogging -- have affected me, and I came to the conclusion that {brace yourselves profound thought here} there's a little bit of good and a little bit of bad. I KNOW. Deep ;)

For example, through the Internet I can be...

• Inspired -- ladies like Sarah give me fresh ideas on decorating; sites like One Pretty Thing get my creative juices flowing and give me projects I can steal borrow and make my own; Crystal is a wellspring of information both saving and making money from home
  
  
• Encouraged -- I love reading other "mommy bloggers" -- ladies who are in the trenches with me, who get what I'm going through on a day to day basis. Or maybe it's spiritual encouragement from gals like Rachel, or Sarah, or Andrea.
  
  
• Humored -- {ok so I can't think of a better word -- give me a break, it's been 2 weeks :)} Big Mama, Boo Mama, and Mama Belle {hmmm...sensing a trend with the word "Mama" here} provide a little comic relief in my day.

And there are so many other good things -- keeping up with old friends and making new ones. Those are all really good things.

But there are also a whole host of bad things that can come along with it:

• Jealousy and discontentment {"Her house is beautiful", "They have so much more money than we do", "She's so pretty", "I love her blog design", "I wish I could be that crafty" "Her pictures don't look like they were taken by a two year old" etc, etc etc}
  
  
• Distraction {"I just need to do this one more thing" Click. Click. Click. "Wait, where did that hour just go?"}
  
  
• Laziness
  
  
• Pride

Just like any hobby, blogging/Facebook/surfing the Internet needs to have it's proper place in my list of priorities -- and if I'm being honest with myself, I think in the past couple of months I had let it slip up to occupy the top spot. Maybe God was trying to teach me a lesson -- I mean, frying a few motherboards is hardly beyond His capabilities ;)

At any rate, I'm thankful to have a computer back for all those good reasons I listed above. And if I sense myself losing the battle with some of those bad things? I'll step away again.

Now, off to try to finish playing catch up with all my favorite blogs!

P.S. If you want a really good read on going without your computer for a week click here. I could have pretty much copied and pasted her thoughts -- I especially like her analogy of the slot machine -- go read it and I think you'll agree.

Toodles!

Takin' Care of Business

Four family birthdays.

Two birthday parties.

Fall family pictures.

Bible study.

Church.

A trip to the pumpkin patch.

The list goes on.

We are busy this week and next week {and last week too}.

Good busy. But busy all the same.

We've got so much going on outside the house that I'm starting to fall behind on some stuff inside. Right now blogging just feels like something to put on my "To Do" list. I've never intended for it to be a "have to" -- it should be a "want to".

So I'm taking a little break. However long it takes for me to play catch up and enjoy this wonderfully busy time of year.

I'll be back before long so just hang w/me till I return, 'k?

An Award

So Susan at Warm Chocolate Milk gave me and 4 other lovely ladies an award the other day and since I'm a huge slacker, I'm just now getting around to posting about it here. Susan has a great blog where she writes about her sweet little boys and life as a mom. Then Sarah at Married a Missionary bestowed the same award upon me. Sarah is a fantastic photographer and friend from college with an adorable baby girl who has her own blog :) Thanks for the award Susan and Sarah!

Here's the scoop:

1. Each Superior Scribbler must turn and pass on this award to 5 of the most deserved blogs.
2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the blog and name the author from which he/she received the award on his/her blog.
3. Each Superior Scribbler must display the award on his or her blog, and link to this post.
4. Each blogger who was awarded Superior Scribbler, must visit this post and add their name to the Mr. Linky. That way we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives this presitigous honor.
5. Each Superior Scribbler must post the rules to their blog.

So now the fun part -- passing it along! I read so many fabulous blogs and I would say all of you are equally deserving, but since I have to pick just five, here they are:

1. Sarah at This Heavenly Life -- Sarah is one of the first people I "met" through the Internet (and for the record, that's a sentence I never in my life thought I would utter :) She is a fantastic writer -- her posts are always smart, sweet, funny, and witty. I would say mark her name down cuz you're bound to be seeing it someday on the New York Times bestseller list!
   
   
2. Rachel at Musings of a Future Pastor's Wife -- Rachel is another great writer who I "met" via blogging. She is such a godly sweet woman and it shows through in her writing. She is a fellow book enthusiast and I've already got a whole slew of books I want to read thanks to her recommendations.
   
   
3. Becky at The Nilius' Up North -- Becky is a real life friend and former roomie of mine from college. She just started a blog after the birth of her sweet baby girl this past June. I think Laney and Lily are destined to be good buddies :) Beck is also a fantastic cook -- she's already posted one great recipe on her blog and I'm sure there will be more to come!
   
   
4. Kate at Savvy Little Women -- I just found Kate's blog this weekend and I was hooked in an instant. She's got 5 beautiful daughters (and I have a special spot in my heart for baby girls :) Not only is she a great writer, she's also a fantastic photographer! She has two, count 'em TWO sets of twins, and that in and of itself I think deserves some kind of award!
   
   
5. Katie at Une Autre Mere -- Katie is a friend and my personal jeweler (ha!). She has two adorable baby girls whose hand-me-downs kept Lily stylishly clothed this past summer :) Just recently she gave birth to a precious baby boy Tate. She keeps me laughing with her quick wit and sarcasm. I marvel at her ability to raise three children and run a jewelry business from home all the while looking simply amazing and perfectly accessorized! :)

If you get a chance, check these ladies out! You won't be disappointed!

And the Winner Is...

How to pick a winner for your giveaway...

Find an impartial judge...

...and a princess bucket.

Toss in all the names...

...and pull out the winner!

And the winner is...

Oh, I'm kidding...I disqualified the hubs, of course (though it was sweet of him to try :)

The REAL winner is...

(watch the video to find out!)

Congratulations to Sarah @ This Heavenly Life!

And to everyone else, thanks for being such great readers, commenters, and all around good people :) Better luck next time!

One Hundred...and Three

So it has come to my attention that in the process of posting on such Deep and Meaningful topics as how much I love lavender scented Febreze and what movies Dave and I enjoy, that I neglected to take note of an important blogging milestone: My One Hundredth Post.

This is evidently a Very Big Deal. So I'd like to take a moment to celebrate reaching 100.

Traditionally, bloggers will celebrate by posting 100 Random Facts about themselves, but because the very idea of trying to come up with one hundred things about myself makes my head hurt, and because even if I could come up with that many facts, I wouldn't subject you all to the torture of actually reading them, I have decided to celebrate with my very first GIVEAWAY!

The prize? A $10.00 Options gift card -- this card can be used towards ten dollars of merchandise at any of the following stores: Gap, Baby Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Piperlime.


What do you have to do to win? It's simple. Leave me a comment on this post. That's it! It doesn't matter if you've never commented before, or even if this is the first time you've visited this site (welcome Facebook friends!) -- anyone can win! Just a couple of rules:

1. If you comment Anonymously or as a Guest, be sure to sign your name so I know who you are.
2. Any inappropriate comments will be deleted. Not that I think that will be a problem, but still -- I'm just puttin' that out there.

You have until midnight next Sunday, August 30th, to comment. A winner will be chosen at random and announced on next Monday's post.

And in the interest of keeping some tradition...I'll give you a list. A list of Ten Things I Would Buy If I Won My Own Giveaway.

1. These Perfect Boot Jeans from Gap (and the body that goes with them)
   
2. This Khaki Trench Coat from Old Navy would be the perfect piece to keep me warm in the crisp fall air.
   
3. But then, I also love this Cropped Green Peacoat, also from Old Navy.
   
4. This Pleated Jersey Dress looks comfortable enough for me to wear around the house -- just give me some pearls and call me Mrs. Cleaver.
   
5. And how adorable would Lily look in this Pointelle Sweater Beret...
   
6. ...paired with this Sweater Jacket?
   
7. I love how the ruffles dress up this long sleeved t-shirt from Gap.
   
8. And I think these red shoes are so fun -- though I have no earthly idea what I'd wear them with (and I'd never spend that much money on them!).
   
9. Gift card or not, I might have to splurge and get this Buttoned Shoulder Sweater Dress for Lily -- pair with some gray leggings and I think we have the makings of an adorable outfit for her 1 year pictures!
   
10. And last, but not least, I might buy several of these Little Pocket Tee's in different colors.

Those are some of my favorites -- now it's your turn! Leave me a comment and then go window shopping and decide how you'd spend your prize!

And here's to 100 more posts!

Darn Computer...

Would you believe me if I told you we are having computer problems, AGAIN?

We are.

Something happened and our laptop just quit recharging. Wednesday morning I took our poor sick little computer into Best Buy where I was able to demonstrate my expansive knowledge of technology by explaining that something was wrong with our new "power cord thingy" and staring blankly at the computer man as he tried to explain the problem to me using words like "motherboard" and "hard drive".

I left it in the capable hands of the Geek Squad, but was sad to hear that it could take 2-4 weeks before it might be fixed.

I wanted to tell him that was unacceptable due to the fact that I HAVE A BLOG but I didn't think he would believe me due to my earlier display of technological ignorance.

So anyway, I'm still going to be blogging just probably not quite every day and I'll do my best to keep up with my reading and commenting, but don't be concerned if you don't hear from me for a few days.

Happy weekend!

Thoughts About My Blog

So before I start blogging in earnest, I thought I should clarify a few things about my blog. First, I mean it when I say I don’t really know much about blogging. At all. I’ve read a few – that’s about it :) Some people write about one particular topic or have a theme – I am not that creative :) So basically this is going to be about my day and my thoughts on…whatever. This means that at some point in time I will probably:

Bore you to tears
OR
Baffle you with my randomness

I’m ok with that because – let’s be honest – nobody is forcing you to read this (unless of course your name is Dave and you are married to me ;)

Second, in my brief travels in the “blogworld”, I’ve noticed that most people have come up with cute or creative names for their blogs. Mine at this point, is quite unimaginative. I’m working on that, but so far “Mommy Perrott” is the best I’ve got :)

Finally, I have to give my apologies to my friend Lacey, as she is the one who introduced me to blogs, and now I have copied her template :) There just aren’t many cute choices on the standard list of templates…and I promise if I ever figure out how to make my own, or find a place that has better options, I will change it :) At this point however, that is a little beyond my capabilities -- so Lacey -- my sincerest apologies :)

That's all for today....until next time...

I Never Thought I'd Have a Blog!

I can't believe it -- I'm entering the world of technology and starting a blog :) Really I hope this will just be a place where friends and family who aren't part of the Facebook world can see updates about our growing family. It will also be nice to have some sort of place to keep a record of Lily (and someday our other children) as she grows! And a bonus -- this is much easier to set up than I imagined it would be! :)